75% of users judge a business’s credibility by the design of its website. And within that design, what carries the most weight is the photos. A bad photo isn’t neutral: it’s an active signal that something’s wrong.

We’ve spent years watching the same mistakes play out. Here are the ones that kill a restaurant website, and how to avoid them.

The 5 most common mistakes

1. Photos taken with the phone’s flash

Flash flattens food, hardens shadows and turns an appetising dish into something clinical. Always use natural light, ideally from the side (a window to the left or right of the table). If it’s night-time, invest in a warm 2700K lamp — not the flash.

2. Photos with too shallow a depth of field

Portrait mode on a phone blurs everything except the foreground. That works for people, not food: a blurred dish doesn’t read. Use normal mode and shoot from above (bird’s-eye) or at a 45-degree angle.

3. Customers appearing cropped or blurred

Photos of the venue with blurry diners create a sense of “chaotic place”. A well-lit, in-focus photo of the empty venue beats one with people caught mid-movement.

A scanned menu PDF on the website is worse than having no menu at all. It doesn’t read on mobile, it doesn’t rank on Google, and it looks amateurish. The menu needs to be in HTML, with legible, searchable prices.

5. Photos stolen from Google

Beyond the legal problem (copyright), users spot generic photos instantly. They’re always the same paellas, burgers or tapas circulating across a thousand websites. Zero credibility.

What does work

Main dish: bird’s-eye angle on a neutral background

Shot from directly above, dish centred, plain background (a dark wooden table, a white tablecloth). It’s Instagram’s universal format for a reason: it works.

Atmosphere: wide angle with no people

A photo of the empty dining room, with the lights on, tables laid, plants or details visible. It conveys cleanliness and readiness.

Team: a portrait, not a selfie

A photo of the chef or owner — half-body shot, smiling, with the venue blurred behind them — humanises the brand. Users trust venues more when they can see a face.

Details that tell a story

The blackboard with today’s menu, a bottle of local olive oil, a board of freshly served tapas. This is “B-roll” that fills out the website without weighing it down.

Phone or professional camera?

A recent iPhone is enough for a website. The difference comes from light and composition, not the gear. If your budget allows it, hiring a local food photographer for a 3–4 hour session (€150–300) sorts out 90% of your visual content for years.

Rule of thumb

If you’re not sure whether to upload a photo, don’t upload it. It’s better to have 8 good photos than 30 mediocre ones. A restaurant website needs few images — but every single one has to whet the appetite at first glance.

Website Photography: What Works and What Drives Customers Away